Shiver
by hollystar299
Summary: What would have happened if Rue had survived? This story is told by Rue, as she journeys through the Games without Katniss' help. Rated T for violence, I mean, its the HUNGER GAMES, people.
1. Chapter 1

I shiver. Hiding from Katniss has to be the most difficult thing I've had to do. At first, I thought that the alliance was a good idea. Then I met the Careers. Glimmer may be dead, but Cato and Clove are really ready to put this Game down as the bloodiest Hunger Games ever.

A cannon booms in the distance. I wonder vaguely who is dead. I hope Katniss didn't die so soon. Maybe it was Peeta, or maybe Thresh…

_No,_ I think to myself,_ Thresh can't be dead. He's a better fighter than you, and you've made it this far._

I alone know where Thresh has been hiding. There is a field of grain, here in the arena, and it's probably where he gets his food.

Suddenly, in the mid-darkness, the anthem begins playing. The seal appears over the trees. I look to the sky. Thank goodness it's not Thresh. It's the boy from District Three. It is not surprising, truthfully. After Katniss and I blew up the supplies, I assumed that Cato would kill the supply guard. The face of the boy from District One shows up as well. Ah, right.

My mind whirls and suddenly I find myself back in the moment where I called to Katniss.

_Caught in a net, I struggled to get free. I could see the boy from District One._

_ "Katniss!" I screamed._

_ "Rue!" I heard._

_ I grinned at the boy. _She's coming, and you're going to get it.

_Instantly, I realized I wasn't his target. Katniss was. He was going to attack her, while she was wounded. I pulled out my small knife._

_ "Well, buddy, come and get it."_

_ Then, I felt the spear pierce my body. But he was off target. I was supposed to die._

I didn't. I am still alive, and still fighting. I am going to get out of this arena. I don't care what it takes.


	2. Chapter 2

I sigh. Getting out of the Arena is going to require a lot more deaths. It was hard enough coming back here after surviving the spear.

When the Game makers discovered I was still alive, they healed my wounds, and stuck me back in the arena, without any inclination as to where I was.

"Congratulations to the seven tributes who remain," Claudius Templesmith's voice yells, shortly after the anthem. "There has been a re-evaluation of the rules of the Hunger Games, and there has been a rule change. If both tributes from the same district are alive at the end of the Games, they will both be declared victor."

He pauses, letting it sink in, then, as if he knows some of the tributes might not understand, he repeats the rule.

In spite of myself, when I hear the voice, just below me, I jump.

It's Katniss, and she's yelling Peeta's name.

I lean over in my tree, and I can see her. She is crying. I know why. She thinks I just died.

She does not register, "seven tributes who remain". She only registers the rule change.

She is desperate to find Peeta. She has found a new ally. I hope that I don't have to kill them. I have never killed anyone. Neither had Katniss, until the boy from District One.

Despite the warmth, I am shivering uncontrollably. Katniss can shoot. Peeta can camoflauge really well. Add them together, and you get one formidable team.

I hope Cato kills them. Or Thresh. Or even the girl from District Five. _Foxface_, I remember Katniss' nickname for her. What was her name? Marvel comes back to me, but that was the boy from One.

_Oh well, perhaps I'll remember in the morning. I have to gather some food in the morning, _I remind myself.


	3. Chapter 3

**Me: I forgot about this in the beginning**

**Rue: I can't believe that you forgot.**

**Katniss: Hollystar299 does not own The Hunger Games.**

**Me: I was supposed to say that!**

**Rue: Onto the story.**

**Me: I was supposed to say that too! **

I gather the berries in the bag. My side stings, so the Gamemakers must have left me some of the pain of the spear, to remind me that this is their show, and not mine.

I swing the bag over my shoulder, and hum the little tune I used to sing in the orchards. The mockingjays instantly take up the song, adding multiple layers of harmonies. The small brook glitter beautifully in the sun.

Suddenly, I am gripped with a feeling of panic. _What if I went through the pain of that spear for nothing? What if I'm just going to die right now? What will I do if Katniss , Peeta, and I make it to the end? What if something goes wrong? How can I kill Katniss, the only tribute that was ever nice to me? How can I kill Peeta, her district partner?_

I wish nothing more than for this to be over. For everything to be gone. I want to be with my sisters, and my parents. I want to hop from tree to tree in the orchard, whistling, and living, and being free.

The Capitol has taken that away from me.


	4. Chapter 4

**Me: Okay, I don't own Hunger Games, so I hope Suzanne Collins doesn't sue me for forgetting the disclaimer in the first two chapters.**

**Rue: We get it, hollystar299. Let's get on with the story; I want to find out what happens to me!**

**Katniss: I hope I don't die…**

**Me: We don't know that yet, so let's get on with the story. YAY! :D**

I fill the eighth container with water. I probably have enough water to last a week, maybe more. I just don't want to be pushed into a bloodbath.

I figure that my chances are less than zero if I am stuck at the lake. Cato would personally throttle me, because he thinks Katniss, Foxface, or I blew up the supplies.

I have to start searching for hiding spots. I know where Thresh, Cato, Clove, Katniss, and Peeta are. I don't know where Foxface is, but I know it I somewhere near the Cornucopia. I wonder where her food comes from. She had been stealing from the Careers, and now, all of their food is gone.

I pull the berries I collected yesterday out of the pouch in my bag. I chew slowly and deliberately, trying to stem my overwhelming hunger. I realize that if I don't eat more, I can starve. I don't have Katniss for her wild game, and I don't have access to the huger-stopping herbs.

I reach for a small bottle and begin to fill it. Soon, all of my water containers are full, and I move out of sight, into the trees.

Claudius Templesmith's voice breaks over the loudspeaker, "Hey there, tributes. The Gamemakers and I wanted to wish you well, as we enter the third week in the Seventy Fourth Hunger Games. As some of you know, many of you are struggling. We have something you each need greatly. If you think it's worth the risk, come to our feast at the Cornucopia."

I sigh. Thresh probably needs food. I don't really need anything, even though a map to the herb patches would be nice. I gather what I can. Tracker-jacker plants, hunger-stopping herbs, anything edible. Tomorrow, I am going to begin my search for a hiding spot.

I put all of my berries in a large pouch in my bag. They don't all fit, and I take that as a good sign.

For kicks, I collect some night lock. You never know when you might need it. I think I'll place some outside my camp and see if I catch any rabbits… or tributes.

Foxface was stealing the Careers food. She might be watching me, so I make sure to eat the blueberries that look almost identical to night lock. She might actually fall for it.

The cannon booms. I think it must be Clove. Thresh is too strong to have died. I guess I'll see in the sky tonight.

Two dead in less than two days. The kills are getting slower. Thirteen died in the first ten minutes. Now there are six of us left and Cato is among them. If anything, the Gamemakers will probably make him angry, and then have him kill us all.

Unless the Head Gamemaker likes an underdog, then Katniss and Peeta or Thresh and I will win. I would do anything to get back to the orchard, to swing in the trees like I used to. To play tag and other games with the rest of the Grain-Harvester children.

I glance at the sky. The stars look fake. Everything in this arena is fake. Except the plants and animals, they were probably imported from the Meadow in Twelve, or the woods between the ruins of Thirteen and Twelve.

The cannon booms again. I hear a noise below my tree. I scramble down.

Foxface is dead. She ate my night lock. I look her over. She has a knife, but other than that she has little else. I take the knife, and her small pack.

The sky will show her face tonight. Her face and another. That's three tributes, in less than two days.

I think again. I killed her. Maybe not directly, like stabbing her. I killed her with the night lock berries. I killed my first tribute. Maybe she had friends. She might have had a boyfriend, one who thought she might really come home.

Her friends probably want me dead. I can't blame them. I can't blame anyone. I could before, but now I can't blame anyone. I can't because Foxface was clever. She could have come home. She would have too, if she had taken a blueberry, and not a night lock.

I want to win so bad. I guess that even if I do win, I'll be scarred. I'm already scarred.

Not scarred physically. The Capitol would fix that. I am scarred emotionally. I must be very sane, to have come to this conclusion. If I win, I won't be the same. If I don't win, I die. I won't ever see my family again. Or Regan. I'll never see my best friend. I will never see the mockingjays. I won't be able to hear them sing.

I make a resolution. If I do win, I will name my first daughter Katniss. I won't die in vain. I'll leave something that helps future twelve year old competitors. I don't want to die as a Capitol pawn.

I want to win. I am going to survive. I am Rue. I am The Survivor. I survived the frost that killed the other children and their families. I survived starvation. I survived the heat that killed my grandparents. I survived the fall that killed my only brother.

I promised my father and my mother and my sisters that I would bring them something from the Arena, when I came back. I will have brought them a brand-new Rue. I won't be the small, shy, timid girl anymore.

I will fully fit in with my title, The Survivor. I will survive.

I believe it is not a question, now, of IF I will win. It is WHAT will I do ONCE I win.

I make a silent promise to myself. If I do win, I will help Primrose Everdeen. Katniss' little sister. She's my age. I will help her understand what her sister meant to me.

If I don't win, I want Katniss to. But I'm not going down without a fight.

**Me: Happy, Rue, I made this chapter extra-long.**

**Rue: Yes. Go, Rue!**

**Katniss: Thanks.**

**Me: We don't know if you die yet, Katniss. You might not. NO ONE KNOWS Mwhahahahahaha! :D**


	5. Chapter 5

**Me: Cue disclaimer, Rue!**

**Rue: Hollystar299 doesn't own the Hunger Games.**

**Me: Yeah. Now, Katniss.**

**Katniss: Onto the story! **

I hold my head up. The sky showed that Clove and Foxface were dead two days ago. Since then, no one has died. That leaves Katniss, Peeta, Cato, Thresh and I. Five tributes left.

I figure that the Gamemakers will add mutations into the Game soon. Things have been very slow the last two days. I am glad Katniss isn't dead, but that means I'm just one tribute farther away from becoming a victor.

I want to go home. I want to see my family.

Suddenly, someone or something crashes in the woods. I scramble up the nearest tree, closest to the small cave I've been living in.

Fear grips me. If this noisy person has been keeping track, Cato is on the loose. That means no one is safe. This person is not being careful. It may be Cato. I grip my small knife, which isn't much against a two hundred pound male tribute with a sword. If this being is Cato, I am dead, without any doubt.

It isn't Cato, it's Peeta. He is collecting berries. Katniss must be hunting. From my vantage point in the tree, it seems as though he's collecting the night lock that I had used to kill Foxface. If he eats it, Thresh and I will be the only district team left.

I can't help myself. As he moves his hand to put four berries in his mouth, I yell.

"Peeta, no! Don't eat those berries!" my voice is hoarse from lack of use.

He freezes. The berries fall to the ground.

"Katniss, is that you?" he says. He is clearly confused.

I curse silently. I'm supposed to be dead, that was my one advantage in this Arena. What am I doing? I just saved Peeta, and he was one of the only things that stood in my way of going home, and seeing my family.

He crashes off again. I climb down to the lowest branch and hang from it. When I drop, I hear Katniss' voice following the trail Peeta just carved through the undergrowth.

"Peeta, I told you, she's dead. I covered her with flowers. I sang her to sleep. She's gone." Her voice cracks on the last word.

I want desperately to cry out to her. To show her I'm alive, and how I'm surviving. I wish to tell her about my first kill, Foxface, the hunger victim.

I retreat into my cave, and take a tiny sip out of the pool in the back. I've been preserving my water supply, filling containers daily at a fast moving stream. I hunt almost daily, setting small traps, trying to collect food for the days that I'm sure are going to come.

Katniss explores the clearing where I have formed my little home. She doesn't spot my cave.

She glances at my backpack, left outside. It has a tiny 11 on it. I had sewn my name, _Rue_, into the side of it, for lack of something to do in the evenings. I found a pair of night glasses where Foxface must have dropped them. Katniss picks up the bag.

"She didn't have this when she died," she says. "I must be Foxface! She's set a trap. Her or Cato. We have to get out of here, Peeta!"

She drops the empty bag, and they dash off, leaving me alone again. No doubt at least one camera is watching me, so I wipe my tears, and put on my emotionless face. I have killed a tribute. In many ways, I am no better than Cato. I killed someone.

I am so glad that Katniss didn't explore farther. However, she doesn't know that Foxface is dead. Where has she been hiding?

The cannon booms for the first time in two days. I feel a stabbing sensation in my gut. Thresh is dead. Cato must have caught him.

Katniss and Peeta are the only team left.

**Me: Okay, that was shorter than the last chapter, but longer than most of them.**

**Rue: I don't care! Keep writing!**

**Katniss: *sob* We're the only team left!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Me: I don't own Hunger Games!**

**Rue: No, Suzanne Collins does.**

**Katniss: *sob* We're the only team left!**

**Me: Onto the story!**

I drink the last of the water from the small container. The days have slowly been getting hotter, and today the stream had dried up.

Luckily, the small cave pool seems unaffected. It seems as though the Gamemakers can't control it. I still have plenty of drinkable water.

I heard Katniss and Peeta moving through the trees about an hour ago, and my guess is that they're heading to the lake. They probably assumed the rain would keep up.

I am worried. Every time I hear a noise from the woods, I think of Thresh, Clove, and the others that Cato has killed.

The sound of stampeding animals awakens me from my light sleep. _Mutations_, I think, and I spring up.

They are wolves. Heavy-set wolves. They each have a collar with a number on it.

A particular mutt, with golden curls, and a _One_ on her collar reminds me of Glimmer. The rest look like the other tributes.

They all have the same look in their eyes, bloodlust.

One small mutt pads over to me. She has my hair, my eyes, and an _Eleven_ studded on her collar. With a shock, I realize this must be me. This mutt thinks she is avenging my death, but seeing me, alive, means that she doesn't have to avenge anyone.

The small mutation bays, and the other human-wolves come padding over. They sniff at me and the Marvel-wolf even licks my hand.

They believe I am one of them. I am dead, just like them.

Thresh-wolf lies down at my feet. Foxface-wolf howls and they all spring up again.

My mutation signals for me to follow, so I do, racing along, laughing and singing.

If this is the end, I'm going insane.

Eventually, I get tired. I brought my pack, with enough water for the two day journey to the lake, but not enough food. I have no more energy.

Thresh-wolf carries me on his back. When we finally reach the tall pines at the edge of the lake, I feel rested and rejuvenated.

I spot a tree with low enough branches, and pull myself all the way to the top.

I watch as the mutts scent something, then lie in wait at the first line of bushes, a few hundred yards off.

I doze off, and drift into an uneasy sleep.

My dreams are not dreams. They are nightmares.

**Rue: Wait! That's the end? Nooooo…**

**Me: Rue, chill, read the next chapter!**

**Rue: Oh, phew! I thought you were just gonna cut me off like that!**

**Katniss: Oh please! More Rue? I thought you died in like, the last eight tributes!**

**Rue: Nope! Long live the Rue-ster!**

**Me: Don't worry, readers, along with the short authors note, I am posting two more chapters, but this is a good cliffy! What are Rue's nightmares you wonder?**


	7. Author's Note

**This is just an author's note. I am continuing this story. (Be not afraid!) I think I will go into more detail about the end (the healing, the last interview, etc.). I'm even going to go into the Victor's Tour, and life after the Games. I think I'll stop just short of the Quarter Quell.**

**I plan on having 30-35 chapters, so this story is far from over. **

**Keep on reading! **

**~hollystar299**


	8. Chapter 7

**Me: Let's just cut to the chase. I don't own Hunger Games, but I love it to death!**

I doze off, and for the first time since the beginning of the Games, I dream.

But my dreams are nightmares.

"_Rue," my mother sounds frantic. "Rue! Your sister was reaped for the Hunger Games!"_

_I see myself. I am no longer skinny and weak. I look healthy, well-fed, and strong._

"_Ellie? No!" I yell, but my dream-self simply shrugs._

"_I've been to the Hunger Games once, Mama. I'm not going again," I say simply. It's like my sister's life doesn't matter._

_My mother sinks to the floor, sobbing._

_I watch on the television set, as Ellie is brutally killed, by Katniss._

My dream changes.

_Suddenly, Primrose Everdeen is on the stage, with the District Twelve mentor, Haymitch, and Effie Trinket. _

_I wait for Katniss to step forward, to volunteer, but nothing happens._

_Peeta is chosen, and we immediately begin the Games. I watch, over and over and over again, as Cato stabs Prim. I sob, weep, and beg for him to get me instead, but he does nothing but stab Prim._

_Then Ellie is the one being stabbed, then my mother, then Papa, then Jezza, my youngest sister._

_I beg for him to stop._

I awake, in a cold sweat. It is lucky I hold onto the trees so well. If I fell from here, I would easily break my neck.

I hear a shout, and the baying of the mutations. Katniss, Peeta, and Cato are on top of the Cornucopia.

I watch as Katniss shoots Cato's hand, and Cato stumbles backward into the throng of angry mutations.

I force myself to look away, as they rip his body. The cannon does not boom.

_Armor!_ I think. _He must have armor on. This is going to be a long night._

Finally, the anthem plays, and the seal shows, but there still isn't a picture. He's still alive.

Katniss rips her jacket off and makes a bandage for Peeta's leg, which is bleeding worse than ever. They share Peeta's jacket, which is good for them.

The temperature has dropped well below freezing, and I snuggle down in my sleeping bag and the three jackets I have.

It is a horrible night. Cato is moaning, begging, and finally just whimpering as the mutations destroy him.

I try to sleep, but Katniss keeps waking me.

She must be trying to keep Peeta alive, because she keeps yelling "Peeta! Peeta!"

I can't wait for this all to be over. For the Games to finally end.

**Me: I know that was a short chapter, but I'll probably get in at least one more tonight.**

**Cato: I just die like that?**

**Rue: Yes. Now go back to being dead.**


	9. Chapter 8

**Me: You know the drill by now. I don't own Hunger Games.**

I watch, as the sun comes up. It was a horrible night. Katniss and Peeta kept me awake, and I had to listen to Cato, dying.

When the sun finally rises, Katniss shoots Cato. I think he may have mouthed _please_. I didn't realize how quickly this day would come. The final day of the Games.

No matter what, I will make this the final day.

The cannon booms. The mutts scamper away, into a hole made by the Gamemakers.

I hear Katniss say, "Hurray for us," in a hollow voice.

They think they've won.

Katniss yells something, and Peeta says something I can't make out. Katniss and he move to the lake, away from Cato's mangled body.

The hovercraft arrives, as the mockingjay gives the whistle. I think Katniss is crying.

Cato is lifted from the Arena. Katniss stoops to pick up the arrow that hit Cato's armor last night, and Claudius Templesmith's voice booms from the loudspeaker.

"Greetings to the final contestants of the Seventy-fourth Hunger Games. The earlier revision has been revoked. Closer examination of the rule book has disclosed that only one winner may be allowed. Good luck, and may the odds be ever in your favor."

Katniss and Peeta look at each other. Peeta says something like, "not surprising."

I catch his voice again, "No. Do it."

She has an arrow notched at his heart.

He nods as she shakes her head. I hear "don't want to die like Cato."

I plug my ears. They don't know I'm alive. They're going to kill themselves.

Katniss and Peeta kiss. Their last kiss. Katniss pours out the berries. _Night lock_, I think. She's going to commit suicide.

I scramble down from the tree. I run, faster than I ever have in my life.

But I'm too late.

They've swallowed the berries.

**Me: Short, I know. But this is the best place to leave off. Keep reading!**

**Katniss: *mega sob* Now we're DEAD! :(**


	10. Chapter 9

**Me: *sob* I don't own Hunger Games.**

**Rue: You just own this plot line.**

**Me: Yeah. That. I love this book, but I hate it at the same time! Why are these characters so AWESOME?**

I run to Katniss and Peeta.

When I reach them, Katniss has begun convulsing and Peeta is already frozen stiff, but his chest rises and falls. He's paralyzed.

"No. You can't die, Katniss," I say. I'm sobbing, and my tears hit her face.

Katniss looks up, and although she can't see me anymore, she can hear me.

"Rue, but- you're dead," Katniss says quietly.

I squeak, "No, I'm alive. I'm the victor. You ate the night lock! I'm sorry. I'm so so sorry."

She grips my hand firmly.

The cannon booms. Peeta has stopped breathing.

I begin to sing the song she sang me on my death-bed. I memorized it.

"_Deep in the meadow, under the willow  
A bed of grass, a soft green pillow  
Lay down your head, and close your sleepy eyes  
And when again they open, the sun will rise._

_Here it's safe, here it's warm  
Here the daisies guard you from every harm  
Here your dreams are sweet and tomorrow brings them true  
Here is the place where I love you._

_Deep in the meadow, hidden far away  
A cloak of leaves, A moonbeam ray  
Forget your woes and let your troubles lay  
And when again it's morning, they'll wash away._

_Here it's safe, here it's warm  
Here the daisies guard you from every harm  
Here your dreams are sweet and tomorrow brings them true  
Here is the place where I love you."_

She's not moving. Her chest gently rises up and down.

"I love you, Katniss," I say softly. I wipe my eyes on my sleeve.

Katniss draws a shuddering breath.

"Love… you…" she wheezes.

The cannon booms for the last time.

Claudius Templesmith's voice rings again from the loud speaker, "Ladies and Gentlemen, I am pleased to present the victor of the Seventy-fourth Hunger Games, Rue Kaiser! I give you the youngest tribute, of District Eleven!"


	11. Chapter 10

**Me: OMG! I haven't posted in about a decade, and I'm really sorry. I love writing but I was so busy with school and-**

**Rue: Hollystar is sorry that she hasn't posted. Very sorry.**

**Me: So getting back to the story… that was all very sad, and…**

**Rue: Hollystar299 doesn't own Hunger Games.**

I wait for a few minutes, as Katniss and Peeta's bodies are lifted away. Then the hovercraft comes for me.

I am still crying.

I'm going home. I was the youngest of all twenty-four tributes, and I can go home. I'm bleeding from a small cut on my leg.

I look around. There are doctors, who want to heal my leg, but I refuse.

I reach for the glass that was left on the small table. I drink the whole thing, and then a doctor hands me another glass.

I need to look at myself. I ask politely for a mirror, and an Avox brings one to me.

My hair is a tangled mess. My eyes, once so light and carefree, are now lined, and sad. I have a scar just above my upper lip, and when I grin, it gives my face a mischievous look.

Finally, the doctors convince me to let them heal my cuts and bruises, but I ask them to leave the scar. I want to remember what I did to be here. I want to always remember the feeling of pain, and this scar will help me.

They tell me to wait a few minutes. I sit, watching the sky from the hovercraft.

Before I know it, we are landing on the training center roof, and the hovercraft is mobbed by Capitol people with cameras.

Seeder, my mentor, pulls me into a hug. She hands me a handkerchief, and I wipe my eyes.

Because of my "death" in the Arena, I come out virtually unscathed. The doctors heal most of my scars, but they leave the one on my lip, and the scar from were Marvel stabbed me.

My prep team is anxious to get their hands on me. This is the first time they have worked on the victor.

After they scrub the ten layers of dirt off my skin, Hans tells me the stories. The betting, the sponsors. Apparently, at the end of the Games, all of the bets were on Katniss surviving. Even when Cato was alive.

Now the Capitol citizens who bet on Katniss are paying up. The people collecting the money are using it to pay for the slight renovations to the Arena, to make it "suitable" for touring. This means getting all the blood out of sight, and opening up the cave where I hid.

As I listen, I realize that I hate these people. People I don't even know. I hate them for glorifying the deaths of kids. I want them dead. And I will make sure the Capitol goes down with them.


	12. Chapter 11

**Me: OMG. I am so so so sorry for not updating Shiver. I've been super busy with all kinds of things. I'm actually on vacation, so internet connection has been hard to come by. Thank you to everyone who's left reviews. Also- this story isn't over yet. I have a lot more ideas for the Quarter Quell and stuff. **

**Rue: Can we get on with the story.**

**Me: Oh- I totally don't own anything about the Hunger Games, but I do own my little plotline! **

**Rue: Don't you want to warn them-**

**Me: Oh yes, there has been a minor time skip (I know what I said about going into the Victory Tour, but I ran out of ideas. So basically, this is the end of the Victory Tour, District 12).**

I hold my breath as the hovercraft descends over District 12. Because I'm from District 11, the Victory Tour, which began in District 1, skips over District 11, to save my home for last.

I am nervous about meeting Katniss' family. I can never tell them exactly what it meant for me to have Katniss as an ally, and how sorry I am that she died. I can never tell them what I owe her, and how much I miss her.

Seeder escorts me to a back room in the Justice Building of District 12. So far, this has been the routine. I meet with the mayor of each district, and the mentor of the tribute. Then, after appearing on stage in front of all of the district, I am forced to speak with the mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters, cousins, aunts, grandparents, etc. of the dead tribute.

Mostly there have been silent tears from the families, but Cato's father tried to strangle me before a Peacekeeper stepped in and stopped him.

Mayor Undersee is sitting in a high backed chair. There's also a girl, maybe sixteen. She's crying.

I stand awkwardly, until Mayor Undersee notices that I'm there. He stands.

"You must be Rue. I'm Mayor Undersee. Welcome to District Twelve. Congratulations," his voice is hollow and sad. This clearly hasn't been the first time he's had to meet a victor. But with Katniss' prospects so high, he would be exceptionally sad.

The girl also stands. "You were Katniss' ally. I'm Madge. I was Katniss' friend, before she went into the Arena. I just can't believe she's dead."

"I'm sorry," I say. I feel as though I've been apologizing ever since I came out of the Arena.

Madge looks up, her eyes filled with tears. She pulls out a pin from inside her pocket. It's the mockingjay pin that Katniss had in the Arena. "They gave this to me, when- when they brought her back. I think you should have it."

A knocking sound on the door attracts my attention. Next thing I know, Effie Trinket and Haymitch Abbernathy are pushing their way into the room. Effie seems okay, but Haymitch is obviously drunk.

Haymitch moves past Mayor Undersee toward me. As he gets closer, I can smell the alcohol on his breath. His words come in slurs, and I can't make out exactly what he means.

Seeder grabs my shoulder. "Time to go meet District Twelve, Rue."

**Me: Sorry for the short chapter. I'll update really soon with a really long chapter. I promise.**

**Rue: Don't worry, if she doesn't, she'll have me to answer to.**


End file.
